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Keith Downey
Keith Downey is a former chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota. He is a former Republican member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, representing District 41A from 2009 to 2013.
Downey received his MIS and BBA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He has worked as an advisor and consultant to state agencies in strategy, technology, and operations. Downey previously worked for Unisys and Epic Systems and was a partner with Virchow Krause Consulting.[1]
Downey is a member of Christ Presbyterian Church and treasurer of the Southview Parent Council. He is married and has 3 children.[2]
On July 24, 2017, Downey declared that he would run for governor of Minnesota in 2018.[3] He ended his bid for governor on April 18, 2018.[4]
Campaign themes
Downey's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[5]
Recover our economy
- Excerpt: "Reform the tax structure to simplify it, reduce state revenue volatility, and attract investment to Minnesota."
Develop World-Class Graduates
- Excerpt: "Increase local control for school districts by reforming the school funding formula and relieving mandates."
Control State Spending
- Excerpt: "Measure outcomes for programs at all levels of government."
Reform Healthcare and Human Services
- Excerpt: "Expand pay for performance for all programs, specifically the pilots in workforce and housing programs."
Committee assignments
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Downey served on these committees:
- Education Finance
- State Government Finance
- Taxes
- Ways and Means, Vice Chair
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Downey served on these committees:
- Early Childhood Finance and Policy Division (Lead GOP)
- Higher Education and Workforce Development Finance and Policy Division
- K-12 Education Policy and Oversight
- State Government Finance Division
- Taxes
Elections
2012
- See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2012
Downey ran for re-election in the 2012 election for Minnesota State Senate District 49. Downey was unopposed in the Republican primary on August 14, was defeated by Melisa Franzen (D) in the general election on November 6.[6]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Melisa Franzen |
52.8% | 26,893 | |
| Republican | Keith Downey | 47.2% | 24,045 | |
| Total Votes | 50,938 | |||
2010
Downey won re-election to the District 41A seat in 2010. He had no primary opposition. He defeated Kevin Staunton (DFL) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[7]
| Minnesota House of Representatives, District 41A (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Kevin Staunton (DFL) | 9,767 | 48.51% | ||
| Keith Downey (R)
|
10,354 | 51.42% | ||
| Write-In | 14 | 0.07% | ||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Keith Downey won election to the District 41A Seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives, defeating Ron Erhardt and Kevin Staunton. [8]
Keith Downey raised $83,281 for his campaign.[9]
| Minnesota House of Representatives, District 41A (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Keith Downey (R)
|
8,925 | 39.69% | ||
| Ron Erhardt (MI) | 7,760 | 31.90% | ||
| Kevin Staunton (DFL) | 7,626 | 31.35% | ||
| Write-In | 16 | 0.07% | ||
Campaign finance summary
Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.
Scorecards
Taxpayers League of Minnesota
The Taxpayers League of Minnesota, a Minnesota-based taxpayer advocacy organization, releases a legislative scorecard for the Minnesota House of Representatives and Minnesota State Senate once a year. The scorecard gives each legislator a score based on how they voted in the prior legislative term on tax issues and “their efforts to balance the state budget without a tax increase.” The organization also compiles a legislator’s individual "Lifetime Score."[10]
2012
Downey received a score of 100% in the 2012 scorecard, ranking 16th out of all 134 Minnesota House of Representatives members.[11]
2011
Downey received a score of 92% in the 2011 scorecard, ranking 6th out of all 134 Minnesota House of Representatives members. [12]
Republican Party of Minnesota
Keith Downey was elected chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota (MNGOP) in April 2013. Under his leadership, the party regained a majority in the Minnesota House of Representatives during the 2014 election cycle. Downey directed the party through a functional redesign with an emphasis on debt reduction and established the MNGOP Solution Center to draw attention to successful Republican strategies in Minnesota and across the nation. Downey was re-elected to a second, two-year term as party chair in April 2015. [13][14]
When Downey assumed the chairmanship in 2013, the party was roughly $1.6 million in debt. Two years later, Downey stated in an email to supporters that the party still carried significant debt, over $1.4 million. The MNGOP's ongoing fiscal deficit resulted in staff layoffs and the closure of the party's call center in early 2015. By June 2015, the MNGOP had reduced its debt to $1.25 million. Downey commented, "In 2014, we focused our financial resources on the elections, and now we’re back to focusing our attention on reducing the debt." [15][16][17]
2016 Republican National Convention
- See also: Republican National Convention, 2016
| Keith Downey | |
| Republican National Convention, 2016 | |
| Status: | RNC delegate |
| State: | Minnesota |
| Bound to: | Unknown |
| Delegates to the RNC 2016 | |
| Calendar and delegate rules overview • Types of delegates • Delegate rules by state • State election law and delegates • Delegates by state | |
Downey was an RNC delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Minnesota.[18] In the Minnesota Republican caucuses on March 1, 2016, Marco Rubio won 17 delegates, Ted Cruz won 13, and Donald Trump won eight. Ballotpedia was not able to identify which candidate Downey was bound by state party rules to support at the national convention. If you have information on how Minnesota’s Republican delegates were allocated, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.[19]
Delegate rules
Delegates from Minnesota to the Republican National Convention were elected at district conventions and the state convention in May 2016. Delegates from Minnesota were bound to the candidate to whom they were allocated through the first round of voting at the national convention unless their candidate "withdrew" from the race prior to the convention.
Minnesota caucus results
- See also: Presidential election in Minnesota, 2016
| Minnesota Republican Caucus, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
| Donald Trump | 21.4% | 24,473 | 8 | |
| Marco Rubio |
36.2% | 41,397 | 17 | |
| Ted Cruz | 29% | 33,181 | 13 | |
| John Kasich | 5.7% | 6,565 | 0 | |
| Ben Carson | 7.4% | 8,422 | 0 | |
| Other | 0.2% | 207 | 0 | |
| Totals | 114,245 | 38 | ||
| Source: Minnesota Secretary of State and CNN | ||||
Delegate allocation
Minnesota had 38 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 24 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's eight congressional districts). District-level delegates were allocated on a proportional basis; a candidate had to win at least 10 percent of the vote in a district in order to be eligible to receive any of that district's delegates.[20][21]
Of the remaining 14 delegates, 11 served at large. At-large delegates were allocated on a proportional basis; a candidate had to win at least 10 percent of the statewide vote in order to be eligible to receive any of the state's at-large delegates. If a candidate won more than 85 percent of the statewide caucus vote, he or she received all of the state's at-large and district-level delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention.[20][21]
See also
External links
- Minnesota House of Representatives - Rep. Downey
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign Contributions: 2008
- Keith Downey on Facebook
- Keith Downey on LinkedIn
- Republican Party of Minnesota homepage
Footnotes
- ↑ Revolvy, "Keith Downey (politician)," accessed August 8, 2016
- ↑ Project Vote Smart - Rep. Downey
- ↑ StarTribune, "Former state GOP chairman Keith Downey launches bid for governor," July 24, 2017
- ↑ kstp.com, "Former Republican Party Chairman Keith Downey is Ending Campaign for Governor," April 18, 2018
- ↑ "keithdowney," Official Campaign Website
- ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "Minnesota State Canvassing Report - State Primary - Tuesday, August 14, 2012," accessed April 23, 2014
- ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "2010 Election Results," accessed March 9, 2014
- ↑ 2008 General Election Results
- ↑ Follow the Money's report on Downey's 2008 campaign contributions
- ↑ Taypayers League of Minnesota, "Legislative Scorecards," accessed May 15, 2014
- ↑ Taypayers League of Minnesota, "Legislative Scorecard, 2012," accessed May 15, 2014
- ↑ Taypayers League of Minnesota, "Legislative Scorecard, 2011," accessed May 15, 2014
- ↑ CBS Minnesota, "Keith Downey re-elected as Minnesota GOP chairman," April 11, 2015
- ↑ Republican Party of Minnesota, "Keith Downey re-elected MNGOP chair," April 11, 2015
- ↑ Pioneer Press, "Minnesota Republicans elect Keith Downey as new chairman," April 5, 2013
- ↑ Star Tribune, "Keith Downey's 70% raise raises few eyebrows with Republicans," April 17, 2015
- ↑ Minnesota Public Radio, "Minnesota Republican party whittles down debt," July 21, 2015
- ↑ MN GOP, "National Delegates and Alternates," accessed June 20, 2016
- ↑ To build our list of the state and territorial delegations to the 2016 Republican National Convention, Ballotpedia relied primarily upon official lists provided by state and territorial Republican parties, email exchanges and phone interviews with state party officials, official lists provided by state governments, and, in some cases, unofficial lists compiled by local media outlets. When possible, we included what type of delegate the delegate is (at-large, district-level, or RNC) and which candidate they were bound by state and national party bylaws to support at the convention. For most delegations, Ballotpedia was able to track down all of this information. For delegations where we were not able to track down this information or were only able to track down partial lists, we included this note. If you have additional information on this state's delegation, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Republican National Committee, "2016 Presidential Nominating Process," accessed October 6, 2015
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 CNN.com, "Republican National Convention roll call vote," accessed July 20, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Minnesota House of Representatives District 41A 2009–2013 |
Succeeded by Connie Bernardy (DFL) |
